Girl gamers - setting back feminism fifty years

Hey guys, I play video games. You already knew that. I am also a woman. You knew that too. What I want to know is, why am I still considered a rare species?

Sure, gaming used to be a male dominated pastime, but I think we can all agree that both sexes equally enjoy some quality time with their consoles and PCs. I can walk into a game store nowadays and no one looks at me like I’m lost. I’ve made plenty of female friends who also happen to be into gaming. So, what’s going on with ‘girl gamers?’



I’m sure you’ve all encountered them at some point. They post pictures of themselves posing sexily with their controllers, boast about their xx chromosomes online, and show up at conventions cosplaying in outfits that are nothing more than a handkerchief and a smile.

I sound rather jealous, and maybe I am, a bit (you’d never catch me cosplaying as something like Ivy from Soul Calibur because all the mind bleach in the world would not be enough to scrub the image from your memory). But really, are they doing any harm? If they want to show off their Zelda tramp stamps online, who are we to judge?

The problem is, they’re hurting us, the regular female gamers who just want to play in peace. Nintendoll from Negative Gamer draws a distinction between ‘girl gamers’ and ‘female gamers’. ‘Girl gamers’, she says, are women who are exploiting the community surrounding gaming in order to draw attention to themselves, whereas ‘female gamers’ are simply gamers who happen to be women.



Why are girl gamers doing it? Well, male gamers are generally seen as an easily pleased bunch, aren’t they? There is still the assumption that they are pasty, WoW playing, basement dwelling geeks who see women as rare creatures who are unattainable to mere mortals. A girl gamer is exploiting this by elbowing her way into the community by saying, ‘Oh hey, I’m just like you, I love gaming but I have boobs! Wanna see? LOL!’

This isn’t confined to teenage girls hanging out in internet forums, either. The Fragdolls have made a business out of gaming and being hot women. Their site shows off their cutesy handles and blog posts such as, ‘Make a cute dress out of an oversized t shirt!’ What’s that got to do with gaming? Do you have an opinion on the latest releases, or on the industry as a whole? No? Then what are you doing here?



It’s easy to argue that this is damaging for female gamers, but I feel it’s equally a problem for male gamers. Remember, the whole idea relies on the fact that they’re social rejects glued to their PCs and internet porn. You know and I know that while that community exists, most gamers are people like you and I that have jobs and lives and friends, and are capable of talking to real, live women. As long as these girl gamers are around, they’ll perpetuate the stereotype and keep gaming in the weirdo niche corner that the regular media keeps it in.

I think the problem is the industry really is in its infancy. Pong was released in 1972, when TV had been around for 36 years, and cinema for about 76 years. Gaming will eventually catch up to the rest of the arts in equality, but to do that both men and women will have to treat it as an art, rather than (ironically) a game.